Europe's hottest startups 2014: Istanbul

There is still huge potential for growth in Istanbul's startup community: around half of all Turkey's internet users make purchases online, and it is estimated that the country's internet economy will grow by 19 percent each year. However, Europe still attracts more venture capital per capita than Turkey. "Bans on social media have caused foreign investors to question the stability of the Turkish internet market," explains Cankut Durgun of Aslanoba Capital.

This could be about to change. "Historically there's been a lack of investors with deep technology experience, but now there are growth investors taking an interest as well as successful Turkish entrepreneurs reinvesting as angels," says Naz Özertuğrul, head of Atomico's value creation team in Turkey. Success has duly followed -- food-delivery service Yemek Sepeti expanded in the region after securing a £26m investment, and mobile commerce firm Pozitron sold to Monitise for £60m in February after securing global clients including eBay.

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Europe's hottest startups 2014: Paris

ByJoão Medeiros

Halaskargazi mah, Safak sokak No:15/3, Istanbul

"Turkey has over eight million secondary homes, with 60 per cent of them vacant for ten months of the year," says Remi Onur, cofounder of Airbnb clone Hemen Kiralık. In the past 12 months the platform, known as Flat4Day in its English-language version, has attracted over 25,000 homes in 542 cities. Onur, who also enjoyed success as cofounder of mobile gaming company Peak Games, plans to expand into the Middle East, eastern Europe and Russia.

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Atomico's Naz Özertugrul calls Onedio, launched in August 2012, the BuzzFeed of Turkey. "Traditional media channels hadn't really become social," says cofounder and CEO Kaan Kayabalı. "So I launched onedio.com to become the first content-based social network." Within four months more than 160 brands had created native ads and sponsored content. In March the site reached ten million monthly unique visitors.

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Europe's hottest startups 2014: Barcelona

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Büyükdere Cad. No: 201 Levent Loft D: 78 Sisli

Since making our 2013 list, the furniture e-commerce platform has secured £1.5m in funding and achieved 50 per cent growth and 750,000 monthly visits. It's now building a network where interior designers can give free recommendations to customers.

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Europe's hottest startups 2014: Helsinki

ByTom Cheshire

Aiming to become the Stripe of the Middle East, payment platform iyzico reports 100 per cent month on month growth in transactions and their volume since its November 2012 launch, and claims it now has 3,000 registered merchants. An £800,000 investment from Pachicle Invest should help it reach its 2014 goals - 10,000 merchants and expansion to MENA markets.

Only around half the Turkish population have bank accounts or debit cards. Since launching in April 2013, prepaid card provider ininal has had 300,000 sign-ups, with monthly spending now at £1.4m. "We plan to launch an online loyalty platform to develop gamification capabilities by cross-selling campaigns between partners," says cofounder Bulent Tekmen.

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Europe's hottest startups 2014: Moscow

When Armut's CEO Bașak Tașpınar Degim (right) and her husband relocated to Istanbul from the US, it was a disaster. "Our movers brought the wrong sized truck. Our house painters overcharged us.

We realised consumers in Turkey were stuck with bad service and there were no trustworthy alternatives on the web," she says. In 2011 Armut filled that gap, linking the public with home improvement, interior design, moving services and more. Since January 2013 (and backed in January 2014 by Hummingbird Ventures) they have seen revenue double every five months. From March 2013 to 2014, £100m-worth of service requests were made through the portal.

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Europe's hottest startups 2014: Tel Aviv

ByMadhumita Venkataramanan

The founders of this Islamic fashion portal believe they have a market of 400 million potential customers. For now, it's working on the first 15 million in Turkey. "Young Muslim women want to combine their love of fashion with the dress codes of Islam," cofounder Kerim Türe says. The portal now features 300 brands and attracts 4.5m monthly users, and there are plans to expand in European and MENA markets.

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Europe's hottest startups 2014: Amsterdam

ByOlivia Solon

Launching on the App Store and Google Play in March 2013, it secured £1.2m investment from Hasan Aslanoba and Serkan Borançılı in June 2013, and claims 100,000 active monthly users. The founders now have plans to expand to other major cities in Turkey and beyond.

Founder Güçlü Gökozan and his twin sister have always competed to get each other the best birthday presents. "If the gift is unique or customised, it's invaluable," says Gökozan. BuldumBuldum is now the biggest gift and custom-product e-commerce site in Turkey, attracting 1.5 million monthly visitors. It is also developing an engine to allow customers to design and order their own products.